Friday, November 29, 2013

Today Therm o Web is having their Black Friday and Cyber Monday Sale. You may know them best for their product Heat n Bond, a double sided fusible product. Code: for Cyber Monday is Cyber.

I have been using Heat N Bond for fusible raw edge applique for many years the most recent was fusing Mr Sweet Snowman.

Heat n Bond is also your one stop place for their wide assortment of fusible and non-fusible, woven and non-woven interfacing, stabilizer and fleece. I love using their fusible fleece when making totes and bags. They give them more body and appeal.

The tote bag pictured here is one of my favorites that I use around and about town. I carry it filled with mail, documents and files for my clients. Both bag and handles are sandwiched with fusible fleece.

Soon I will be using their light weight non-woven interfacing for a baseball t-shirt. The interfacing stabilizes the knitted shirts preventing them from stretching.

Check out their website by clicking on the Black Friday Sale image and see the other various products manufactured.

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

A great big thank you to those who visited my blog to enter for a chance to win my giveaway and who became a new follower in one fashion or another during the Giving Thanks Quilters Gallery Blog Hop!

The comments were quite touching - many saying they loved the cute and adorable Mr. Sweet Snowman. And many stated how much they liked my blog. I even received a couple of emails asking questions about it. Thank you! I really appreciated the kind words!

The best part of the blog hop was meeting so many wonderful quilters or those who love quilts! My life has been enriched by you! I am looking forward to what the future holds as we share our passion of quilting, sewing and making creative projects and items.

There were 187 qualified entries for the giveaway and unfortunately quite a few no-reply bloggers. I am sorry, but I had to disqualify you for not giving me a way to contact you.

Random Generator chose number 120.

Raggedy Ann and Andy want to be the presenters of the winner of the Mr. Sweet Snowman Mini Quilt Kit, 3 Echo by Lotta Jansdotter fat quarters and a packet of Studio E Planet Peaceful Charms.

"I
also follow on GFC and if I were to win, my daughter would walk out
the door with the finished snowman as she is a collector...and he is so
cute."

How coincidental that Nanbon44's daughter is a collector of snowman.

I will be sending Nanbon44 an email but if you beat me to it Nanbon44 please feel free to contact me with your mailing address.

Andy says that he and Mr. Snowman match. Lots of orange and red going on here. This is one of two 15" sets of Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls in progress. The other set need their mops. Andy's outfit is almost completed. Ann's little dress, apron and pantaloons are done! The pair in the above picture will eventually be in My Etsy Shop. I am a bit behind listing a couple of items.

Being it is Thanksgiving Eve I imagine many of you have spent your day as I have in the kitchen preparing for tomorrow. We will be joining my sons and grandsons at their place. I made a couple of cheese balls they absolutely love, 3 batches of brownies, homemade hot mustard that is always a request, caramel cream cheese dip for fruit and a Smokey Paprika dip for veggies. Today I made lasagna for one of my other sons who joined us for the day. Now that I have ticked off the things on my list as done for today I will be meeting my recliner and while there will see if a mop can be completed for Ann.

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Feverishly I made Mr. Sweet Snowman. Beginning late last evening late to bed and early to rise to finish in time for the Quilters Gallery's Giving Thanks Quilters Blog Hop Party with Giveaway.

All Bundled Up

Earlier this week I stopped by my local quilt shop, The Quilting Bee. My plan was to find the most ideal giveaway for all who would be participating in the Quilting Gallery's Blog Hop Party that will be running November 21 - 26. Thank you Michele for hosting! And a big thank you to all the wonderful bloggers that have changed my life. I look forward with excitement and anticipation of greeting my online quilting friends and seeing what is brewing in your quilting studio daily! This has been an incredible journey of sharing, learning and meeting quilters. I am truly grateful!

I fell in love with Mr. Snowman All Bundled Up! It was made up and so charming that I was charmed to purchase the pattern. The pattern is from The Wooden Bear.

Isn't he adorable with the tassel on the hat, fringe on the scarf and those beady shiny eyes?

The pattern is so easy peasy to make! The directions so clear that I know you can make him too! The applique is raw edge and is fused with Heat-n-Bond from Therm O Web. You can purchase at your local quilt store or via the icon in the right column.

The applique pieces are labeled A, B, C. . . in the order to place them together. The pattern has a diagram for easy placement. I used a piece of heavy duty vinyl over the diagram and after pulling the paper away from the Heat-n-Bond used a paint brush and watered down glue and brushed only where the applique pieces overlapped.

I was able to then shift Mr. Snowman on the already made background and press to adhere the pieces in place.

The Giveaway will be the pattern and a kit of fabric used in the above mini quilt with beads for his eyes, yarn for his tassel and fringe. All you need to add is the batting, thread and Heat-n-Bond. How cool is that? Of course you may have something you like better in your stash that can be used as a substitute.

Mr. Snowman has his edge's blanket stitched which can be done by hand or machine, ditch stitched in the frame and curly cue quilted in the background. You could simply meander or echo around his hat if you prefer an easier quilting design.

Here is a sample of what will be in your kit. It's not completed yet. The background and frames are already cut for you.

Also I am throwing in 3 fat quarters from Echo by Lotta Jansdotter.

And . . . .

a charm package with 34 pieces of Peaceful Planet.

Aren't the colors and sample fabrics awesome?

So what must you do?

1. Follow me on GFC or Bloglovin or Google+ or your choice. Write a comment that you have or are already a follower and let me know how you are following me whether new or old.

2.For a second chance follow me on facebook. Leave a comment that you are following me on facebook.

No reply bloggers will be disqualified. I have to have a way to contact you if the random generator selects you as the winner. During this particular blog hop I have come to the realization that entering in a giveaway maybe a first time for you and you don't know what a No-Reply Blogger is or know how to determine if you are one or not. After you post your comment click on your name. If you see that there is not an email address than I can't contact you. Go back and under your name reply to your comment and type out your email address to assure your opportunity to win. Thanks!

On Wednesday November 27th the Random Generator will determine who is the winner. If you are a no-reply blogger be sure to leave your email or contact information.

Wishing you luck and looking forward to visiting all the other websites.

Sunday, November 17, 2013

I amazed myself by finishing a second quilt in the same week. The big Tah Dah! is the St. Louis 16 Patch. More about the development of this quilt can be found here and here.

I love making this quilt because it is a quick pattern to make. The blocks are 14 inch blocks. A friend of mine saw the quilt and pattern and is now organizing 100 quilts to be made and delivered to hospice. He has always led the way in making charity quilts. He most likely will be following the Sew with Sass's tutorial and setting the blocks horizontal versus mine that are on point.

I quilted with a meandering design all over the quilt. In most of the blocks I blended the thread with the block colors. The fabric is quite busy so the meandering quilt design was perfect.

The binding is blue and yellow with lilac flowers. .

There was plenty of the blue and yellow lilac flowers to use on the back of the quilt too along with other leafy like and flower prints.

This quilt will be going in My Etsy Shop soon.

After this big finish I spent the weekend reorganizing my quilting studio. It was utter chaos.

Hubby said you don't have anymore banister left to hang quilts not knowing that I had already had a remedy for that.

I made a trip to my attic and retrieved a couple of decorator fabric
rolls. I wrapped a couple of quilts on each one and tied it with a strip
of fabric with a bow. Now they look pretty sitting in my corner.

I have seen where some have used noodles for wrapping their quilts around. I am not sure I will find too many of them available this time of year since it's beginning to show some signs of winter.

Today was a much slower paced day, a day to rest. I started out by making oatmeal flour and whole wheat flour pancakes with raisins, apple and cinnamon. Since I was in the kitchen I also made a large kettle of homemade spaghetti sauce. After cooking I came upstairs to deal with a malware that was driving me crazy. Anyone getting a popup in a tab from Australian Brewing Company? I think it has been eradicated using MalWare Bytes Anti Malware.

The rest of the day has been spent watching several shows of Doc Martin (
I love this show) while making Raggedy Ann's outfit for a 15" doll.
It's so cute! I hope I can get 2 sets done this week. The dolls themselves are coming along fine and I have outfits completed for one set which will go in My Etsy Shop. One set is for a custom order for a Christmas present for a friend's granddaughter.

Oh yes! don't forget to sign up for the upcoming Blog Hop Party! It is a great time to meet new quilters, see what wonderful creations are being made and an opportunity to win some giveaways. I always look forward to them.

Below is a blurb for the upcoming Blog Hop Party. You won't want to miss this! So get right over to the Quilting Gallery and register with Michele.

"These parties are lots of fun and a great opportunity for you to
gain new followers for your blog, thank your regular blog readers, make
some new quilting friends and tell site visitors about any FUN events
you have planned on your blog.

For quilting bloggers: Host a give-away on your blog starting November 21st
and lasting until November 26th. What you choose to give-away and how
you wish to run the give-away, is totally up to you. However, give-aways
that require visitors to make a purchase before being entered in the
give-away are not appropriate for this blog hop party. I’ll organize the
list of participating bloggers and publish the list on November 21st
(in the late afternoon."

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Welcome to my place . . .

where I share my passion for quilting! It all began when I participatied in a block challenge in 2004. Now almost 12 years later I still am making quilts. Needle and thread have long been in my hand since a teenager, beginning with knitting needles and making clothes with the sewing machine.